Holidays 101: Turn Local Searches Into Sales This Season

For most retailers, the holiday season accounts for around 20% of annual sales. When a single shopping period can make or break a business' entire fiscal year, it's important to get it right.

In the retail industry, holiday shoppers are up for grabs. Over half of these consumers are open to buying from a new retailer, and last year 41% purchased from a new retailer. Holiday shoppers are buying products they may only search for and purchase once a year — or even every couple of years — so being able to find exactly what they're looking for as they search will play a pivotal role in their holiday shopping experience.

While online sales are rising, eCommerce sales still only make up around 10% of total retail sales globally. With this is mind, it's important for brick-and-mortar businesses to devote resources to optimizing for the 90% of sales they can expect to conduct in person this holiday season.

However, attracting customers to your business' physical locations does not mean ignoring your online channels. Your business must maintain a consistent and up-to date online presence in order to reach these high-intent, searching consumers. According to Google, 76% of people who use location search on their mobile device visit a business within a day, and 28% convert into a purchase.

During last year's holiday season, Yext tracked both mobile and desktop searches across our publisher network for customer locations from October through January. Across verticals, this data shows elevated levels of high-intent mobile searches (50-90% above the three-month average) from Thanksgiving through Christmas, and a dramatic spike in searches for the two days around Black Friday.

By providing holiday shoppers with the information they are looking for in their moment of intent, you are more apt to drive foot traffic to your locations, and ultimately increase sales. The best way to do this is through accurate and consistent location data across all online entities.

At Yext, we're experts in helping brands prepare for the holidays. In The Yext Guide to Holiday Prep, we offer recommendations for businesses to amplify foot traffic by optimizing local listings.

Download The Yext Guide to Holiday Prep now and learn how to make the most of this year's holiday season.